Eliot School
The Eliot School was opened in 1909 on property located at Rodney and Knott, originally planned for a new high school. The school was named after Thomas Lamb Eliot, an influential clergymen in Oregon.
In the late 1940s or early 1950s, the students and teachers from the Eliot School were transferred to the Reuben P. Boise School on Fremont, and it was renamed the Boise-Eliot School. The Eliot School property was transferred to the Portland Parks Bureau and became the Knott Street Community Center. The facility was later renamed the Matt Dishman Community Center.
The soil used to fill the Boise School site was excavated when the basement for the German Evangelical Congregational Brethren Church was dug. The digging was done by hand, and the garbage haulers in the congregation used their trucks to haul the dirt to the school site.
In the late 1940s or early 1950s, the students and teachers from the Eliot School were transferred to the Reuben P. Boise School on Fremont, and it was renamed the Boise-Eliot School. The Eliot School property was transferred to the Portland Parks Bureau and became the Knott Street Community Center. The facility was later renamed the Matt Dishman Community Center.
The soil used to fill the Boise School site was excavated when the basement for the German Evangelical Congregational Brethren Church was dug. The digging was done by hand, and the garbage haulers in the congregation used their trucks to haul the dirt to the school site.
Eliot School, circa 1951. The school was built in 1909. Source: City of Portland Archives, image A2001-045.1185.
Principal Samuel Usmar Downs (1856-1936) is the bearded adult male in the photographs below. He served as principal in several of Portland's Eastside schools and retired in 1931 as the long-time principal at the Eliot School.
Eliot School graduating class of 1915. Source: Steven Schreiber.
Eliot School graduating class of 1929. Courtesy of Julie Cohan, whose father is seated in the front row, second from the right.
Sources
Portland City Directories.
City of Portland Archives and Records Management - accessed January 9, 2019.
Schwabauer, Wanda J. "The Portland Community of Germans from Russia." Diss. Portland State U, 1974. Print.
City of Portland Archives and Records Management - accessed January 9, 2019.
Schwabauer, Wanda J. "The Portland Community of Germans from Russia." Diss. Portland State U, 1974. Print.
Last updated October 30, 2023